Tank and joint for forming same



June 24, 1930. T. J. SHEA TANK AND JOINT FOR FORMING SAME Filed Mair ch 29, 1928 N/EN 727 y Jm ll-V VTTU /e/ Patented June 24, 1930 UNITED "STATES PATENT OFFICE THOIMIAS J'c' SHEA, OF PORTLAND, OREGON, ASSIGNOR OF SIXTY ONE-HUNDREDTHS TO LOU F. KNjOWL'ION, OF PORTLAND, OREGON TANK AND JOINT non. FORMING Sim.

Application filed March 29, 1928. Serial No- 265,619.

This invention relates generally to the fabrication of sheet and structural steel and f other metals, and particularly to the pro-v duction of a special form of tank together with a special form of joint designed to make such construction feasible.

qThe main object of this invention is'to I provide a double shell tank-adapted to protect Volatile. contents against external heat for the purpose of reducing to a large degree thelosses naturally accompanying 1' evaporation of the volatiles, as well as the dangers from fire which are always present where volatile combustibles are stored in unprotected containers. a

The second object is toso construct the tank that it will beextremely light fora given holding capacity and so simple to manufacture that the double wall tank can be constructed almost as cheaply as is .the ordinary single wall tank.

The third object is to so .constructthe tank that its upright walls are divided mto sections entirely independent of each other.

. The fourth object is to provide a joint for the sections which will permit them to. 'be cut apart'without any danger of injuring the sections themselves. V

The fifth object is .to so construct the tank that riveted seamsmay be entirely dispensed'with and the welds so made as to hold the joints in tension, thereby making it possible to use a much lighter gauge -of 'material than is ordinarily possible. I

The sixth object is to so construct the tank that itsnovel features may be incorporated in existing single wall tanks without any great difliculty. I

The seventh object is to provide a'plurality of water cooled .pompartments around the surface of the tank, each of which is independent of all of the others and is provided with its own water supply whereby external at passing through the outer wall is. absorb d by the water. I

The eighth object is to' construct a nonevaporating water-proof tank which-can be easily set up or taken down'in the field, thereby adapting it to use in the oil fields now known. as the atomic weld wherein in tense heat is developed with such speed that .the metal can be welded before the heat has had an opportunity to be conducted a sufficient distance to distort the plates.

These, and other objects, will become more apparent from the specification following as illustratedv in the accompanying drawing, in which:

Figure 1 is a section through a single wall tank showing the manner in which it is assembled. Figure 2. is a fragmentary section through a double: wall fire proof tank. Figure 3 is; a perspective view of an outer shell shown in Figure 2. Figure 4 is a horizontal section taken along the line 44 in Figure 2. Figure 5 is a vertical section taken along the line 55 in Figure 1. Figure 6 is a section through a modified form of joint. employing a lattice for stifi'ening purposes. Figure 7 is a vertical section taken along the line 7 in Figure 2 showing onev form of joint. Figure 8 is a View similar to Figure 7 showing welds on the inside and rivets on the outside of the joint. Figure 9 is a view-sim- .-ilar to Figure 8 butshowing one side welded on the outside of the double wall.

Similar numbers of reference refer to similar parts throu bout the several views. Referring in detail to: the drawing, in Fig-' ure 1 there is shown a tank consisting of the bottom 10, the single; outer shell 11 and the roof. 12. These elements are formed of,sec-- 't'ions, preferably joined together by forming shell 17 and the outer shell 18 whose horiplace, as shown in Figure 4.

Thesections of the shell 18 are provided with aninturned flange 20 preferably provided with rivet holes 21 by means of which the section may be held'together temporarily until the welding is completed. Additional reinforcements may be provided in the form of U shapes 22 which may be welded into The top '23.is in the form of a shallow tank whose side walls 24.- are of sufficient height to confine a suitable quantity of water '25 on the top side of the tank.

In some instances it may be feasible to dispense with the holding bolts 26 by resorting to-a clamp 27, as shown in Figure 5, as a the double construction.

. forms illustrated in Figures 7 and 8 in which means for holding the plates 28 together against the burning strip 29. In this instance it will be found desirable to employ a weld 30 on the straight side of the joint and a weld 31 on the seam side. Inother instances it will be found desirable .to ems ploy a bulb edged strip 32 as a tie between the shells 17. and 18, which strip is held in position by means. of the bolts 26 until the bulb edges are united by atomic welding to the adjacent sections. In other instances it may be desirable to use a flat burning strip 33 which is secured to the outwardly flanged sections 34 by means of the rivets 35, the welds 36 being located on the inner side of In Figure 9 is shown a cross between the one weld is between the shells and the pther weld is on the outside of the shells.

In Figure 6 a narrow burning strip 37 is placed between the sections 38, in which case rivets 39 areemployed, which also sgfve as fastenings for the' lattice braces 40.

In the double wall construction shown in Flgure 2 it is preferable to provide a-filler openlng 41 into which water can drip from the valve 42 directly above same and opening into the next section above. Fuse plugs 43 are also provided. x

Numerous methods may be arranged for maintaining a supply of water within the. numerous compartments, such. as floats, valyes, or any of the many men use. vIt is, of course, preferable to maintaln suificient water between the shells to absorb heat which would otherwise find its way into the interior of the tank and cause undersirable evaporation of its contents, if not actually setting same on fire, or bursting the tank by igniting the gases from electrical discharge. v a

In some instances where water is scarce and sultable insulating materials are more available, these could, of course, bev substituted. However, it can easily be seen that wherewateris ample that if the entire height of the tank is formed of a continuous double wall then the lower sections would be subways now in comjected to a severe collapsing strain when the tank is empty or when partial-1y filled with oil.

While this joint may be used for other i furnaces, sawdust burners, and numerous other ways in which sheet metal is employed, it is especially well adapted to the construction of a double wall gasoline storage tank,

due to the fact that such tanks must be proteeted against fire as well as loss by evaporation, and must be capable of being moved at a reasonable expense without destroying the integral parts of the tank itself.

It will readily be understood that in event it should be desirable to move one of these tanks that the biirning strips (which may be either narrow as shown in Figure 6, or wide as shown in Figures 7 to 9) can be cut away by means of a gas torch or other means, leaving the various sections intact and ready for reassemblin-g at another point. Efi'orts have been made in the past to produce double wall tanks but these have never been successful, owing to the fact that they were too" expensive to fabricate and erect that it was difiicult to take same apart without destroying thecharacter of the elements from which they, were constructed. It can be seen that from this method of .construction exceedingly light weight sheets can'be employed, owing tothe fact thatthe sheets are not weakened by punching or drilling, and the saving of time and material on the inner shell alone is, in most cases, nearly sufficient to produce the outer shell. .The result is a ater-proof non-evaporating tank which may readily be set up or taken down for moving purposes. While reference has been made to the use of-the atomic weld as being desirable in connection with the construction of these tanks, it must be understood that other methods may be employed for welding the joints, "without departing from the spirit of this invention. e

It will also be understood that one of. the chief values in dividing the double wall tank structures into a plurality of sections is most apparentin the larger units, while in the smaller units it is impossible to actuallying of an inner shell, an outer shell'spaced from said inner shell, said inner and outer shells consisting of ,a plurality of curved sheets having flanged ed es, and burning strips between said shells hereby same may be held in spaced relation .to-each other and each opposite pair of sheets can be formed into an independent container.

3. A double wall storage tank having a plurality of curved inner and outer forming the walls thereof, each 0 plates having flanged edges formed around the sides thereof, spacing members betweensaid inner and outer plates securedbetween the flanges of adjacent plates adapted to reinforce said wall and to divide same into a pluralit of superimposed and horizontally divi ed compartments, and means for covering the top side of said container and for maintaining a quantity of water thereon.

4. A double walled container having spacing means between said walls secured around the edges of each' sheet employed in said wall, intermediate reinforcing means be-' tween the boundaries of each of said sheets, and an atomic weld uniting each sheet to its adjacent sheet across'said spacing means.

THOMAS J. SHEA.

lates said 

